Keto Crab Cakes

My husband loves, and I mean LOVES crab cakes. He has been on a keto journey for many years. I do lower carb but not keto. He has missed having crab cakes and has asked if I could make him some keto crab cakes. I haven't eaten many crab cakes in my life time. However, recently I've had them at a couple restaurants and they were good. I enjoyed them. I figured that now that I've tried them and know what I like about them, I could give them a go. So here was my first attempt at keto crab cakes. I didn't look up any other recipes on line. This is my brain child. Such as it is. :) My husband thought they were really good. He does like to praise about his food. He ate it with some tartar sauce, then said they were good without any sauce. So that is also high praise. I used a specific keto bread crumb called "Kiss my keto breadcrumbs". As I searched to post the link for you to add to your shopping list, I found they are no longer made. :( This makes me sad. I'm sure you could possibly substitute different breadcrumbs. I am sad that I won't be able to replenish my own stock once my bag is empty. I guess I use them sparingly enough. 

Keto Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

2 large eggs (blended)

1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend

1/4 cup superfine almond flour

2 Tbsp Kiss my Keto everything breadcrumbs

1-2 Tbsp old bay seasoning

1 stick celery (finely chopped)

1 slice of onion (finely chopped)

8oz jumbo lump crab meat

Directions:

Finely dice (I used my small food processer) onion and celery. In a small bowl mix blended egg with celery/onion, and old bay seasoning. Then add the cheese, breadcrumbs, and almond flour to the egg mixture and stir to incorporate. Add the crab meat to the mixture in the bowl. stir to mix in the crab meat. I blended so there were some chunks and finer pieces. Next, I formed the crab cakes with my hands about the size of my palm. Once the cakes were formed, I placed them on some wax paper until ready to cook. My mixture made (7) 3in crab cakes.  I put a couple pats of butter in my skillet and let melt, then added the formed crab cake about 4 at a time in the melted butter over medium/high heat to let a crust form on the bottom. I then turned down the heat to cook through. Flipped the crab cake over and repeated the process turning up the heat after I flipped it over so I could create a crust on the other side as well.  The butter was a delicious addition to the flavor of the crab cake. 

Enjoy warm. refrigerate all leftovers, use within 2 days or freeze once cooked for 1 month. 

Cordon Bleu - Rosemary Garlic Maple Bacon wrapped chicken tenders

I watched this food network show, where the person mentioned that they always brine their poultry chicken breasts and such. So, today I decided I would try it, I was thinking of making an easy version of chicken cordon bleu. I decided that I would brine my chicken tenders before I put together the dish. Mind you this is not your typical cordon bleu. It's my mashed up version using what I have at home. ;) I only have chicken tenders right now, so no splitting the chicken stuffing it with swiss cheese and ham. Here is what I did for the chicken.

Ingredients:

8-10 boneless skinless chicken tenders

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

4 TBSP rosemary garlic seasoning

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

4 cups of warm water

In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar and water together so the salt and sugar dissolve in the water. I just used my hand to stir it. Then I added the apple cider vinegar and rosemary seasoning to the water. Once that was in the water I placed my chicken tenders in the brine, covered it with saran wrap and placed in the fridge for 1 and 1/2 hours. Next I removed the chicken tenders one at a time patting dry with a paper towel, wrapped the chicken tender with a strip or two of bacon and placed on a parchment lined jelly roll pan. I then sprinkled some smokehouse maple seasoning on top of the bacon wrapped chicken tenders. I placed in a preheated 350F oven for 45 minutes to cook the chicken and the bacon together.

Once those come out of the oven I will pour some cream of mushroom soup over top, then place some swiss cheese on top of the cream of mushroom soup bacon wrapped chicken, Next I will sprinkle with some italian bread crumbs and bake in the oven until cheese is melted.

This will be served with scalloped potatoes and green beans.

Homemade Pizza Rolls

A friend of mine posted in Facebook her pizza rolls. She said she found the recipe on Pinterest. So I searched pinterest and found this recipe. Is was so easy. I used what I had around the house to make it work. This pan is larger than a 13X9... and part of them are just cheese rolls.

Ingredients:
1 bag turkey pepperoni
3 canisters of regular refrigerator biscuits
8-10 cheese sticks cut into 4ths
1 stick of butter (melted)
2-3 Tbsp italian seasoning

Directions:

Prepare 13X9 baking dish by spraying with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 375F. Open the first canister of biscuits. take one of the biscuit rounds and flatten with fingers and insert 2 pepperoni, then 1/4 of a cheese stick and 2 more pepperoni's. Wrap the biscuits around the pepperoni's and cheese. place seam side down in a 13X9 baking dish. Repeat process until pan is filled. Spoon melted butter on tops of the prepared biscuit rounds. Then sprinkle with italian seasoning.

Bake in 375F oven for 15 min or until golden brown.

Serve with favorite marinara sauce.

Verdict... Now a new item on my menu. My children loved them so much there were no leftovers and the kids were asking if I had any more. Total hit here! I hope you love them too. Thanks :)

Veggie Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna Rolls

They are as easy as 1, 2, 3... At least I thought so. Pretty simple and easy to make. These are so good... I forgot to get a picture of them when they were fully baked. They went fast!

Ingredients:

1 box Lasagna noodles*

2 zucchini, sliced thin

6 roma tomato's, sliced thin

1 small ricotta cheese container

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp pesto

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 jar alfredo sauce

1 jar spaghetti sauce

2 eggs

4 Tbsp italian seasoning, plus some to taste

Directions:

Boil water and cook Lasagna noodles until Al Dente, rinse with cold water and set aside. While noodles are cooking.... In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, egg, pesto, parmesan cheese, and 1/2 of the Italian seasoning... stir until combined. Set aside. Cut/slice the zucchini and place in a bowl. I used my kitchen-aid slicing attachment to slice my zucchini. Next, slice the Roma tomato's, thinly. A mandolin slicer would work well to slice thin, I just didn't have one. 

Prepare 13X9 baking pan by pouring about 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Preheat oven 375F.

Once the noodles are cooked, cooled and drained, and all ingredients are sliced and/or mixed... it's time for assembly. Take a tablespoon and spread a spoonful of the ricotta mixture on the lasagna noodle. Then layer zucchini on top of the ricotta mixture and finally add the thinly sliced roma tomato's. Roll from one end over the other until makes a sort of "ball"(using word loosely, see pic above).  Repeat until pan is full.

Once pan is full pour remaining spaghetti sauce over the lasagna rolls, and then pour the alfredo sauce over the spaghetti sauce. Top with Mozzarella cheese. Cover with Foil.

Can be frozen and baked later or baked right away.

Bake 375F for 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake an additional 20 min. 

* Can be Gluten-Free if you use Gluten-Free lasagna noodles.

Serve with salad, and garlic bread. 

Garlic Bread...

Take sliced bread and 2 sticks of melted butter. mix in to the butter about 3 tbsp italian seasoning and 2 Tbsp garlic powder. Spread butter mixture over bread with a pastry brush and bake or broil. Bake for 7 min until brown, or broil until slightly brown on top. 

BESTEST CrockPot Mac N Cheese

This morning I asked my kids what they wanted for dinner tonight. Last nights dinner was very tasty but the kids didn't want it for dinner and so then dinner became a fight. I am trying to limit the amount of contention in my home. Fighting with my kids to eat the delicious dinner I made them, because they didn't want to eat it, is not something I want to do every night. I figured that I needed to make something that they actually wanted to eat tonight to save myself some sanity and peace in my home, at least one night this week. I can hope right :). Well, They asked for homemade mac n cheese. I totally could have used the "blue" box, I have several. However, my kids said they wanted HOMEMADE, mac n cheese. I said I could make baked mac n cheese, and they didn't want any part of that either. So homemade cheesy goodness was to be made on the stove and be ready for them for dinner. I decided I didn't want to turn on my stove to make a white sauce into a cheese sauce and then make the noodles and wait for them to just eat it. Too many dirty dishes, and headache for me. The only cooking on the stove for this is to pre-cook the pasta a little, but I think it would be just fine to skip that step in the future. I will test and let you know a different day.

This is recipe is a culmination of looking online and through my recipe apps for a crockpot mac n cheese. I didn't find any that are made this way, but OMGoodness... this is so delicious!  I am so glad that I adjusted this with what I had at home and what I thought would be good.

Ingredients:
12 oz. velveeta, cubed
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese blend
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup half n half
1 can evaporated milk
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 lb medium shell pasta
1/4 c butter, cubed
1/2 med/large onion diced
1/4 tsp garlic salt
5-8 dashes tabasco
salt and pepper to taste (may need to just add pepper)

Directions:

Pre-boil pasta 5-6 minutes in salted, rapid boiling water to al dente. Drain and set aside (do not rinse). Spray slow cooker with "Pam" or other non stick spray. Add drained pasta. In a medium bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients, pour over the pasta and stir to incorporate throughout the pasta. Set cooker on low and stirring periodically for 2 hours, so the cheese melts thoroughly and does not get crusty on the sides and bottom. After cheese is melted throughout the dish is done. Pasta is cooked perfectly. Eat right away, or set on warm and eat later.

This dish is one of my favorites I've made so far! It's that GOOD! This makes a bunch, but as much as my family LOVES Mac N Cheese, I doubt there will be any left over for lunch tomorrow. I was thinking of serving some chicken tenders with this, but the Mac N Cheese maybe all we eat tonight.

Please let me know what you think of this I am curious to see how you like this recipe. Thanks for stopping by :)

Baked Macaroni Casserole with Smoked Turkey Sausage

Tonights dinner was inspired by a dear friend's macaroni casserole. I was going to make it the way she does, but I had to use of some of the stuff in my refrigerator since we are leaving for vacation in a couple of days. So I wanted to use what I had on hand.

I used similar measurements except doubled them since I have 5 people to feed. And they love mac and cheese things. This smells heavenly, and alas, I have yet to try it. It is sitting on my stove, waiting for my dear husband to come home so we can dig in to dinner. I know I'm such a good wife I'm waiting for him. I cooked it in my pampered chef 13X9 stoneware dish. So it will stay warm for 30 minutes. He should be home shortly.

This dish has my kids swarming in the kitchen. Their cheese and noodle detectors must have gone off and are now impatiently waiting for their cheesy noodle dinner.

Ingredients:
Preheat oven 350F

4 cups dried pasta (macaroni, medium shells, penne)
1 pkg smoked sausage (I used turkey)
2 cups shredded cheese
4 cups milk (I used prepared non fat dry milk)
1 can cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 vidalia onion
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together, dump in a greased (non-stick cooking spray) 13X9 baking dish, Place in 350F oven bake for 40 minutes.

*Optional - place extra cheese on top 5-10 min before finished baking.

4 Cheese Fancy Baked Mac N Cheese

As i was searching the web today after my schoolwork was completed, trying to get ideas for dinner. I went to one of my favorite cooking blogs The Pioneer Woman. I was searching through her expansive recipes, and came across what looked like heaven in a pan. Yes, I said heaven in a pan. She calls it Fancy Macaroni. I altered it a little, so I'm calling it 4 Cheese Fancy Mac N Cheese. And yes, if you read her post on it... she is right, it is a very decadent dish should be reserved for a special occasion, like Tuesdays :) That's my excuse for making it. I even went to the store to purchase some of the cheeses she lists so I could try to replicate it as closely as her recipe. But of course as I go along, I realize that something else would make it yummy too, so I add it to it.

Is that so wrong? I wanted to call this Heavenly Mac N Cheese. Which is probably a better description, but I think I should let someone else have that one,... the originator... The Pioneer Woman... She is an amazing cook and when I grow up I want to be her! She does amazing things with food, and it makes my mouth water just by reading her blog posts. I'm so not worthy, but I did my humble best. Thanks Pioneer Woman for helping me create the BEST Baked mac n cheese I've ever had! You ROCK!!! (if you ever read my humble blog, I am truly honored!)

Ingredients

• 4 cups Macaroni
• 8 Tablespoons Butter (Salted Butter)
• 2 whole Medium Onions, Cut In Half And Sliced Thin
• 10 slices Regular Bacon
• 1 Tablespoon Bacon Grease (reserved From Bacon Slices)
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Whole Or 2% Milk
• ½ cups Half-and-half
• 2 whole Egg Yolks, Beaten
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• ½ cups Grated Gruyere Cheese
• ½ cups Grated Fontina Cheese - I used Romano cheese
• ½ cups Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese - I used Asiago cheese
• 4 ounces, weight Chevre (soft Goat Cheese) - I used crumbled goat cheese (3.5 oz)
• 1 Tbsp pesto

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook macaroni for half the time of the package instructions. Drain and set aside.

Fry bacon until slightly, but not overly, crispy. Drain on a paper towel. Reserve grease.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter and 1-2 Tbsp bacon fat in a skillet and then saute onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown and soft. Set aside.

In a pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter (and add 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon grease for good measure!). Sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Pour in milk and half & half, then cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick. Reduce heat to low. Add salt & pepper to taste. (Do not undersalt!)

Beat egg yolks and drizzle 1/4 cup hot mixture into the yolks, stirring constantly. Stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into sauce and cook for another minute.

Add cheeses, pesto and stir until melted and combined. Add onions and bacon (reserving some for topping) and stir. Taste for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Add cooked macaroni and stir to coat.

Pour into a baking dish, Cover with reserved onion and bacon and 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until sizzling and hot.

Serve with red meat or a green salad.

I served it with pesto breaded chicken cutlets and brussels sprouts. 

** All italics are things I did differently from the original recipe. So yummy!

I thought this was a fabulous dinner. Very flavorful and definitely good on a Tuesday after eating a week of crock pot meals. I really enjoyed making this dish. It was really tasty! I hope you like it too.

Cheesy Cowboy Stew

I originally found this cowboy stew recipe at one of my favorite crockpot blog. I have made it several times. I even made it once for my in-laws and they loved it! They request that I make it at least once every time they visit. It's a great hearty stew that is so easy with mostly canned foods I have on hand. It's so easy to put together. The longest part is browning your meat. Or you could even have it meatless, or with leftover meat. This time I thought it would be yummy with some cheesy component. So here is my take on a cheesy version of this delicious cowboy stew.

Ingredients:
1 can chili beans (RANCH style or generic brand)
1 can italian style tomatoes
2 cans whole or sliced potatoes (drained)
1 can of corn (drained)
1 can tomato sauce (I used Tomato soup today)
1 can Rotel(T) tomatoes with green chili's
1 lb ground beef (I used italian turkey sausage)
1 jar ragu cheese sauce
1 small onion, diced
1 cup water

Directions:
In a large crock pot, preferably the 6 qt but the 4 qt will work. Brown your meat and cook your onions til translucent. I usually cook them at the same time. Then in the crock pot add the remainder of the ingredients only draining the potatoes and corn. Add the meat onion mixture, water and the ragu cheese sauce. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Stirring occasionally.

I love quick easy crock pot meals. You can add jalapenos for added spice to your own dish.

My kids actually eat everything including the tomatoes. It's amazing and so filling. One crock pot full will feed my family for two meals. I like to either freeze this or bring dinner to another family. This freezes well. Enjoy!

Potato, Corn, Bacon and Cheese Chowder

Today I made a yummy chowder. It is so cold here.. like 13 degrees. The whole country seems to be in the same freezer I'm in today. Therefore, it called for a delicious soup or chowder. I was going to make fish again tonight, but since we had that last night I wanted to shake things up. This is a fairly easy recipe, it's got a few parts more than normal. But still yummy. I didn't want to dirty too many pans when making this. I made the bacon last, but you could always have mad the bacon a different day, or even used packaged bacon bits so no other pan needs dirtied when making this. Less mess, makes me happy. :)

I have been snitching this since it's been done. almost 2 hours of a bite here and there... so I hope I'm hungry for dinner. This is SO good.

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 cups potato flakes

8 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cans corn (DO NOT DRAIN)

2-3 cans Swansons Chicken Broth (or homemade equivalent)

1 medium onion-diced

1 can evaporated milk

3 Tbsp corn starch (disolved in water) to help thicken the soup

1 - 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

1 lb bacon diced and browned

1 tsp thyme

1 1/2 dried basil

1 dash cumin

salt and pepper to taste

In the slow cooker - set on high. Add 2 Tbsp butter or margarine and onions. Place lid on and cook until onions are translucent aprox 5-10 min. While the onions are cooking, peel and dice potatoes. To keep them from turning brown, once cut place in a bowl with cold water to keep them from oxidizing. Drain the potatoes before you add them to the onions. Once the onions are translucent add the potatoes, corn with water, chicken stock, salt/pepper and crushed thyme, basil and cumin. (Use a mortar and pestle to crush the thyme, basil, and cumin together). Heat on high 4 hours til potatoes are just slightly firm. Then add the evaporated milk, corn starch, potato flakes, 3/4 of the bacon and cheese. Stir well and it will thicken and turn a slight yellow from the cheese. - Serve warm with reserved bacon bits, sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

YUMMINESS and DELICIOUSNESS is all I can say. Try it and become a believer... mmmmm warms ya' all over!

Shepherds Pie

I love, love, love shepherds pie! It is such an easy thing to make, and so delicious. My mom used to make this when I was a kid. It was different every time, but still so familiar. For me, it depends on the cheese I have on hand, or decide if I want to make a white sauce or a red sauce... If I make it with a white sauce, I skip the green beans and substitute mixed veggies. If I use red sauce it's the green beans for the veggie. I've made this several ways, the olives are optional with the red sauce, as my family doesn't like olives, but I do, so when I'm feeling a little frisky I add the olives to shake it up a bit. I try not to tell them it is in there. Or I end up with none of them eating, and i have a 13X9 dish of shepherds pie to eat all by my self... is that bad?! I don't think so, I will eat it for lunch for a whole week. :)) Lucky me! :)

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1 jar/can spaghetti sauce or alfredo sauce

1-2 cans of green beans or mixed veggies

6-8 potatoes (made into mashed potatoes) or 2 bags of instant mashed potatoes

1-2 cups of shredded cheese, or 6-8 slices of cheese

1 can minced black olives (optional)

brown ground beef with minced onions or just seasoned with salt and pepper. Mix in the spaghetti sauce. Pour into a 13X9 pan adding the olives (optional)

then sprinkle the cans of drained green beans on top.

Next Layer the mashed potatoes on top of the green beans.

then sprinkle the shredded cheese on top.

Bake in the oven preheated to 350F for 30-35 min. Till heated through and bubbly. Remove, serve warm. Dig in! and yummy :)

Buttery, Cheddar, Bacon, Garlic Biscuits

Our family was invited to a friends house for dinner tonight. I asked if I could bring anything, they said no. But I asked if I could bring some rolls or biscuits to share. They said I'm not obligated to but if I felt so inclined by all means. So, I thought it would be a nice gesture and a way of saying thanks for the free meal, that I decided to make some buttery, cheddar, bacon, garlic biscuits. We are having BBQ chicken. This would be a nice side. :) Here is the recipe I used. The base mix is from the Better Homes and Garden's cookbook, Biscuits supreme. I then doctored the base recipe to have this yumminess in it. :) mmm smelling good.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup milk

ADDITIVES:

1/3 pack of bacon chopped and browned

2 cups shredded cheddar

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

TOPPING:

1/2 stick of butter - melted

1 tsp powdered garlic - to taste

Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Once stirred together cut in 1/2 cup of butter until it resembles course crumbs. Make a well in the middle and add the milk all at once, then add in the bacon, cheddar and garlic. Mix well incorporating all of the cheese, bacon, flour mixture and everything.

Drop by spoonful 1 inch apart on to a baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper). Bake in a 450F oven for 10-12 minutes.

While baking biscuits melt the butter in the microwave and mix in the powdered garlic. with a pastry brush, brush the mixture on the biscuits once the biscuits are removed from the oven. Remove from pan and enjoy warm.

Scalloped Potatoes and Onions

I had a lot of red potatoes to use, and I am trying to do more with the potatoes then just mashed potatoes. I decided that I would try my hand at making homemade scalloped potatoes. I have never made these before. I have had these before and I love them, I just felt like it was a little harder for me to make.. But after tonights experience. I need a different mandolin to slice my potatoes and I will make these again. :)

Ingredients

10 good sized red potatoes - peeled, and sliced thin

1 medium onion - diced

1 stick butter

3 Tbsp flour

4-5 cups of milk

salt and pepper

2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

1/2 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs

First, peel and slice thin red potatoes into cool water (so they don't brown). Then make the sauce...

Second, in a medium sauce pan melt butter, then once the butter is melted and bubbly toss in the diced onions and stir until they are translucent. Then sprinkle the flour and cook about a couple minutes until the flour is incorporated and no more flour taste. Then mix in 1 cup of the cheese until melted, once the cheese is melted then gradually mix in the milk and stir continually. Once the cheese milk mixture is starting to thicken remove from the heat. In the bottom of the 13X9 pan spread approx. 1/4th of the sauce in the bottom, then spread some of potatoes on top of the sauce, in an even layer. Then top with 1/2 of the remaining cheese approx 1/2 cup of cheese. Then top with the cheese sauce and repeat steps until the final layer is sauce. Then top with extra cheese. Bake in a 450F oven for 30 min.

Finally, Top with italian bread crumbs and bake another 5 min.

Serve warm.

Dig in!!

VERDICT?

The best scalloped potatoes EVER!!! My husband and kids... they say EPIC! After dinner there was less than half of a 13X9 pan left, and that was not all we had for dinner. Braeden had 4 helpings! yeah me! This is so good I'm not doing very good at describing how delicious this is. Try it and enjoy! I know this is a lot of cheese and yumminess, but so worth it!

Cheeseburger Tortilla Pizzas

Tonight I needed to make pizza since tonight is pizza night. I wanted a change from the typical pizza. I didn't feel like making my own pizza dough and I am trying to save money and use what is in my house. I had a few packs of tortillas and some leftover meat and toppings from dinner last night. I thought... Cheeseburger Tortilla pizzas... And then I decided to google tortilla pizzas to see how others made theirs. I read a few that mentioned brushing some olive oil on the tortillas and then bake them in the oven for 400F for 3-5 minutes. So I followed that step. Then I followed my own way. Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

3 precooked hamburger patties roughly chopped

1 tomato

1 diced onion

5 cheddar slices of cheese diced or shredded

1/2 can of spaghetti sauce

1/4 head of lettuce

6 flour tortillas

olive oil

Lightly brush olive oil on flour tortillas and bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes at 400F. (Tortillas will puff up, just keep them from browning). Remove from the oven

and top with spaghetti sauce, tomato, onion, and cheddar dices.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 400F. Remove from oven when the and use your pizza cutter and slice into 4 pieces. Top with shredded lettuce and eat.

Verdict..

Very tasty, I had two of these, the tortilla was like a thin crust pizza. Very tasty. I bribed my kids with chocolate ice cream if they eat it without too much trouble... It worked. they ate their own 4 slices of pizza. It was nice. The ice cream was a nice treat too. I hope you try this, I will definitely do this one again, but next time might be Taco tortilla pizzas... Enjoy.